Biarritz: itza bute

It's got to be safer than it looks

I think the crosses were put out there for the people who tried to swim out there

Is it just me or does that tree look like a guy adjusting his afro?

The Harbour and lovebirds carved in a plant

Scenic, no?

We’ve been back in Cardiff for over a week now and I haven’t written about the last day of our last trip: Biarritz. It’s a word that invokes images of glamour and lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. It’s just down the road but a country, culture and language away from San Sebastian.

With its beautiful coastline scenery it’s a natural getaway from the bustle of Paris and as the rich are wont to do, they claimed it as their own. The best way to keep out the less well-heeled is to make everything too expensive for the average man so they built high end hotels and added casinos for entertainment. You know you have too much money when you can afford to throw it away.

Gothic meets Willie Wonka

We only had one night here but fortunately arrived early; too early to check in. But the staff at The Grand Large were accommodating. We registered, left them our bags and got on their internet to check mail and post pics from San Sebastian. Still too soon to access the room so out we went. We’d left the rain but not the clouds back in San Sebastian so
it wasn’t beach or pool time, we walked. And walked.

We walked down the steep path to the ocean and followed the coast around the north side of town, dancing on the edge where ocean meets money. The rugged coastline is some of God’s best work and the city that sits on it is some of mankind's best efforts.
A gilded lily if ever there was one.

A little more dynamic when you take out the colour

We cut back in towards the town and ambled the twisting streets; lovely. Here a pic, there a pic every where a pic, pic. Stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a bite but in typical European fashion were informed (lucky She speaks french) food was currently unavailable.
“Dinner is from 7 PM”, he sniffed.

Invigorated with a glass of wine and armed with directions to the nearest ‘marche’, we headed off to top our wine supply. Now that the UK is part of the EU there is no limit on how much wine we can bring back with us, only how much weight we can bring on the plane. A really good bottle of wine that would cost me $25 in Canada is less than $5. I bought several 'tetra' packs in San Sebastian for 75cents apiece. And it's better than the crap I make for a buck a bottle.

After the quick shop it was a ‘patisserie’ for breakfast pastries
and directions back to theBig, Big.
She tells me Grand Large (pronounced with a french accent) translates to
‘The Big Wide Open’ but whatever.

The view from our hotel room to the east

and to the west

The big, big had a big pool

Our room was on the top floor and had an outstanding view of the ocean and a balcony to enjoy it from. Unfortunately it also had a view of the pool and as soon as Luka saw that and as
the sun was starting to peek out...

We had planned to walk the town again that night and seek out a restaurant famous for its whatever but travelling’s exhausting. The restaurant in the hotel was excellent and
it was just down the elevator; it was an easy choice.

Our room had a full kitchen so we were able to start our day
with coffee and pastry in our underwear
and listen to the crash of waves from our deck.
Lifestyles of the not-so-rich and not-at-all famous but comfy.

The whole trip was like that, comfy. The family transplanted
from Cardiff to elsewhere
but moving at our own pace with our own agenda.
No tour buses or lineups just lots of relaxing.
Freaking perfect.